Daugherty Will Bowl for First Major Title in Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship
Tampa, Fla.—Two-time PBA Tour champion Tom Daugherty will have an opportunity to win his first career major title after earning the top seed for the Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship stepladder finals. Daugherty will face EJ Tackett, Jakob Butturff, Chris Via or Kyle Troup in the championship match airing Saturday, Mar. 13 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcast Channel.
Daugherty averaged 224 over 56 total games and won 10 of his 16 matches to take the top spot away from EJ Tackett, who had been the leader each of the previous four days. Tackett, seeking his second World Championship title and third major, qualified second.
Jakob Butturff occupies the third rung of the stepladder, averaging 220 as he aims to win his eighth PBA Tour title and second major.
Fourth seed Chris Via rolled a 230 game in position round and, like Tackett, will bowl in the World Championship stepladder finals for the second straight year. Via finished fifth last season and is seeking his first PBA Tour title.
2021 PBA Players Championship winner Kyle Troup earned the fifth spot with a 215 average and a field-best 11-5 match play record. Troup won three of his seven titles in 2020 and is looking to win his second of 2021 in just his third event.
The winner of the Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship will receive $100,000. Plus, if either Daugherty or his opponent rolls a perfect game in the championship match, he’ll receive a $1 million bonus.
World Series of Bowling XII action continues tomorrow on FloBowling with 16 Baker games of PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship round-robin match play. The top five teams will advance to the stepladder finals airing Sunday, Mar. 14 at 3 p.m. ET on Fox Sports’ FS1.
Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship Stepladder Finalists
AMF University Lanes – Tampa, Fla.
- Tom Daugherty
- EJ Tackett
- Jakob Butturff
- Chris Via
- Kyle Troup
View the full Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship standings
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.